


Snow Place Like Home

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 22:57:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,324
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12994332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Darko visits Savvy in her new home. Savvy belongs to sso-saturnrider on tumblr.





	Snow Place Like Home

Darko felt a bit awkward, squashed up as he was between presents and yule goats. He scratched at an itch on his leg again, convinced that the yule goat was moving, while he watched the little gremlin thing in front of him steer the reindeer through the sky.

When Darko had first received the text from Sabrina (or Savvy as she called herself), he’d been confused. How in darkness was he supposed to be able to get to the North Pole? More to the point, how had Savvy even gotten there in the first place, let alone moved in? All of this he’d asked her in one long text, and she’d replied with a number of smaller texts, interspersed with strange glyphs and dancing turkeys. Emojis, they were called, not glyphs. But Darko still called them glyphs.

It had seemed strange to be able to fly directly to the North Pole in a sleigh driven by a strange, pooka-like creature. But stranger things had happened on Jorvik, Darko had even orchestrated some of these things himself.

“Down we go,” the pooka in front of him grunted, and Darko scrambled for something to hold onto but still almost fell out of the sleigh. Somehow, he managed to step out without falling, but then he had to steady himself against the vertigo of suddenly being on solid ground. There was a reason that the Generals usually travelled by sea.

“Thank you,” said Darko, giving the pooka a little bow. He didn’t usually act so polite, but it was best not to get on a pooka’s bad side. The pooka just grunted and opened up a newspaper to the crossword, taking out a pen that looked like a candy cane.

Darko looked around for a moment, then decided to simply follow the horses. They’d know how to get down into the village, and presumably to where Savvy lived. He realised his mistake as soon as he set foot onto the slope and saw the slick ice. Worried, Darko tried to turn and go back up the slope, but a girl suddenly planted her horse at the top of the ice slide and barrelled down, both whooping with delight while Darko screamed and hoped that the horse wouldn’t flatten him.

It was a damp and sore Darko that limped around the iced-over lake in search of Savvy’s house. She’d texted him a photo, but all the houses looked the same here. That was a pain. Not as much as the literal pain in his tailbone, but still a pain.

Finally, frustrated, Darko stopped on the far side of the lake near a strange structure that looked like an ice castle and grabbed his (thankfully undamaged) phone out of his pocket. His numb fingers tapped the screen until he got to his contacts, and then he dialled Savvy’s number.

A phone rang behind him, causing him to spin around and glower at the girl who was frantically trying to turn her phone off.

“Savvy,” said Darko. “How long have you been following me around instead of talking to me?” Savvy’s sheepish grin spoke volumes. “I hate you.”

“I love you too,” said Savvy with a laugh, slipping her phone back into the saddlebag that her large dapple grey Shire wore. “You made it!”

“Yes, somehow,” said Darko. “That pooka is not a very good sleigh driver.”

“The what? Oh, you mean the Christmas helper,” said Savvy. “Yeah, they’re new this year. I guess instead of getting every rider on Jorvik to help, Santa hired some new people.”

“I am concerned for the future of this island,” said Darko. “Which says a lot, coming from someone who would see this island destroyed.”

“Aww, you do care,” said Savvy. “C’mon, I wanna show you my new house.”

Darko trudged after Savvy through the snow while she chattered on about how much she loved it here. She loved the snow, and the eternal Christmas, and the snow, and the reindeer and Santa, and the snow, and the frozen lakes, and oh, did she mention the snow?

“Yes, you did,” said Darko. “Several times, in fact.”

“Well, that just tells you how much I love it,” said Savvy, grinning back at him. “C’mon, slowpoke, I’ll put you on the back of Jack.”

“I am, as you say, good,” said Darko, eyeing the large rump of the Shire which was very high up in the air.

“Your loss,” said Savvy with a shrug, turning back around. “But we’re almost there anyway.”

“Finally,” Darko muttered, but he had to smile when Savvy urged her horse into a trot as she got close to what was evidently her house. It looked just as Christmassy as the other houses, only this one had candy canes lining a little front path and a shelter for horses around the back. Savvy dismounted and led her horse over to the shelter, where she brushed him down, took his tack off, gave him some food and water, and then put a large blanket over him to keep the snow off.

“And now for the grand tour,” said Savvy, almost skipping as she approached her front door. “Welcome to my crib.”

Savvy opened the door, and warm light spilled out. Darko had to grin at the warmth and light, and, in his haste to run up the path, he slipped and ended up in the snow. Savvy doubled over with laughter while Darko got to his feet, grumbling and trying to brush snow off his pants.

It was very nice and warm inside the cottage. Savvy shut the door behind Darko, who stood staring around the small living room. It really did look just like a little log cabin, complete with a fireplace that had a rug and two armchairs in front of it. Darko immediately stood in front of the fire to warm his frozen self, snow melting off of him and dripping on the rug.

“While you defrost, I’m gonna get us some hot cocoa,” said Savvy, disappearing through the doorway into what Darko could only assume was the kitchen. While he waited, he pulled his gloves off, laying them on the mantelpiece, and shrugged out of his jacket, which he hung on the coatrack over near the front door. He kept his scarf on, though it looked strange paired with his black singlet top.

As he warmed his hands, Darko scanned the items that Savvy kept on the mantelpiece. There were photographs of herself and her horses, but there were also some Christmas-themed items that were clearly for the holiday season. Little toys with their legs dangling over the side, reindeer and Santas and elves. Some ornamental snowmen and snowglobes. Darko picked up one snowglobe, which depicted a little Christmas village that looked very much like this place, and shook it. Part of him had expected it to cause an earthquake here, but it didn’t. Little flakes of snow just swirled through the water in the glass.

“Well, that’s disappointing,” said Darko as he put it back, even as the little pooka ‘helpers’ joined the snowflakes in swirling about the globe. Instead, he looked at a ‘selfie’ that Savvy had taken of the two of them, her with her arms wrapped around him and a grin on her face while he looked as unhappy as ever, though one could see a smile just curving the edges of his lips if they looked close enough.

“Woah, I don’t remember ordering two tickets to the gun show,” said Savvy as she walked back in, holding two mugs piled high with whipped cream and marshmallows and dusted with chocolate powder.

“I should have dressed warmer,” said Darko. “I did not anticipate the North Pole to be so… cold.”

“What, you were expecting a desert?” asked Savvy with a laugh.

“Shut up,” Darko muttered, but took the drink with a smile. He sipped it, tasting peppermint mixed in with the chocolate. “This is quite delicious.” 

“Thank you,” said Savvy, but he could tell that she was trying not to laugh.

“What have I done to make myself look ridiculous this time?” asked Darko, staying perfectly still.

“You’ve got a little something… there, got it,” said Savvy, touching the tip of his nose. Darko placed his mug on the mantelpiece where there was room and touched the tip of his nose himself. A huge wad of cream come off on his finger. He pouted.

“You didn’t get it at all,” said Darko, but Savvy was already giggling as she snapped a photo on her phone. Darko rolled his eyes but smiled, then took some cream and planted it on the tip of Savvy’s nose.

“Hey!” said Savvy, and began trying to lick it off. Darko laughed.

The two of them sat down in the armchairs to enjoy their minty hot cocoa, chatting about idle things. Savvy gushed to Darko about how much she loved it here, and how magical everything was in the Christmas Village, while Darko smiled and nodded while he listened. Her face lit up, and her eyes were bright as she spoke about this place that she loved so much.

When the hot cocoa was gone, Savvy gathered up the mugs and took them to the kitchen. She was gone for quite some time, and, when she came back, Darko had begun to doze off in front of the fire. Even his aches and pains from slipping and falling on the ice had seemed to melt away, and he felt perfectly content.

That is, until he felt something suddenly shoved down on his head. His eyes flew open, just in time for Savvy’s phone to flash as she took a photo of him.

“Savvy, what did you do?” asked Darko. Savvy giggled and showed him the picture, which showed a groggy-looking Darko with a pair of reindeer antlers on his head. He reached up and touched them, finding them to be fuzzy and soft.

“We have to make some holiday cards,” said Savvy. “And I need some stuff to post to my Jinstagram or just have on my phone.”

“Very well,” said Darko. “What other strange headpieces do you have?” He regretted that question as soon as Savvy grinned brightly at him.

By the time a few hours had passed, Savvy had almost completed filled up her phone’s photo album with silly pictures of herself and Darko. There were pictures of them with reindeer antlers, some with reindeer ears and some without, some with red noses, some with Santa hats, some with elf hats, and even one where Darko had donned a Santa jacket. He sent this one to his girlfriend, who responded to it with a heart.

But there was one thing that Darko didn’t want to do.

“C’mon, Darko, come build a snowman with me,” Savvy whined, tugging on his hand.

“No,” said Darko, snatching it back. “It’s too cold out there.”

“Aww, c’mon, pleeeease?” Savvy begged, giving him her best pouty face and puppy dog eyes.

“No,” said Darko, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his head away. Savvy sniffed, which broke him every time. “Alright, fine, but only if you give me another of your hot cocoas afterwards.”

“Yes!” Savvy squealed, jumping for joy. “Done! Now, get your coat back on and let’s go!”

Savvy dashed ahead out into the snow, and Darko stepped outside, amazed at the eternal good lighting in this place. It was like the opposite of the oil rig. Definitely not his aesthetic, but Savvy liked it.

Though the snow quickly froze Darko’s hands, he managed to roll snow into balls and construct a pretty decent-looking snowman. He smiled at it, proud of his work, and took a photo on his phone.

“It looks kinda cold,” said Savvy. “Darko, c’mere.”

“Why?” asked Darko.

“Won’t you please donate your scarf to the Foundation for Cold Snowmen?” asked Savvy with big eyes.

“I hate to break it to you, but he’s made of snow, of course he’s cold,” said Darko.

“Yeah, which is why he needs a scarf!” said Savvy. “C’mon, Darko, pleeeease?”

“Ugh, why do I put up with you?” said Darko as he reluctantly took his scarf off and turned his collar up to ward off the winter chill.

“Cause you looove me,” said Savvy, fluttering her eyelashes at him, and Darko sighed and wrapped the scarf around the snowman’s neck.

“There, now he’s warm,” said Darko. Savvy applauded, and Darko stepped back to survey his handiwork.

A snowball smacked into the back of his head. Rather than reacting with anger, though, Darko slowly turned around to behold a snickering Savvy, who was already holding another snowball.

“You realise this means war,” said Darko. Savvy nodded, grinning, but her grin fell and her eyes widened as several balls of snow rose into the air around Darko, caught up in a dark aura.

“That’s cheating!” said Savvy. Darko only laughed and began pelting her with the snowballs while Savvy squealed and ran away laughing into the village. She returned with an army of pookas, all hopping after her and scooping up balls of snow with their little clawed hands. They were quite fast little things, and their accuracy was startling.

In the end, the snowball fight came to a truce when every part of Darko felt frozen.

“Okay, enough!” Darko called, raising his hands in surrender. “I give. You win.”

“Yes!” Savvy cheered, throwing her arms up in the air as she and the rest of her side cheered. Darko rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

After the war, Darko once more sat in the little log cabin with Savvy, sipping on his hot cocoa and this time not minding the cream that he got on his nose. He really didn’t like the cold, or the snow, but Savvy liked it, which made him happy. He could bear it, just to see her smile. After all, she was like a little sister to him.


End file.
